RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

摘要

Satellites spot nuclear tests Global navigation satellites already have many uses, and scientists may soon be adding nuclear-explosion detection to the list. When nuclear weapons are exploded underground, they create a disturbance in the ionosphere, the thin layer of charged particles at the atmosphere's edge. The disruption, in turn, distorts signals from navigation satellites to ground stations. Jihye Park at Ohio State University in Columbus and her colleagues were able to locate a 2009 nuclear test in North Korea by analysing historical data from ground stations in South Korea, Japan and China. The technique pinpointed the test to within roughly 3.5 kilometres of the test location determined by seismographs.